Al-Aqabah - Al-Anbat - Talal Al-Kabariti

The Aqaba Economic Zone Authority signed today a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Jordan to cooperate in areas of mutual interest. The Authority was signed by its President, Nasser Al-Shuraideh, and by the Regional Director, Sarah Ferrer Olivia, in the presence of Vice-President of Investment Affairs Dr. Emad Hijazin, Dr. Ayman Sulaiman, Dr. Nidal Al-Awran, UNDP Program Director, and Dr. Saud Al-Qar'an, Director of Risk Management Unit. Shuraidah said that the Authority is seeking through signing the memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Development Program to complete our efforts to join the global efforts to achieve the objectives of sustainable development, noting that the memorandum aims to provide the parties with a framework for cooperation on a non-exclusive basis in areas of common interest and to act as a guiding tool in defining and implementing Specific activities in the city of Aqaba and the inclusion of Wadi Rum and the tourism sector in Aqaba. He added that the memorandum includes cooperation in the fields of technical assistance consultations in the development of an effective program for the protection of the land environment, consultations to review and update the National Program for Monitoring the Marine Environment in the Gulf of Aqaba and consultations on "risk assessment and emergency response plans for heavy industries and ports in Southern Region ". This represents activities that have a significant impact on the land and marine environment, as well as building on the outputs of the coastal zone management project implemented three years ago by UNDP to implement the plans. Regional Director Sarah Ferrer Olivella said she was happy to re-establish cooperation with the Aqaba Region Authority, which lasted for 10 years and resulted in the implementation of a number of projects in risk management and natural disaster management and integrated management of coastal environment in Aqaba in addition to the current project implemented in the Valley Rum on integrating the concepts of biodiversity in the tourism sector, stressing the readiness of the program to support the plans and projects of the authority on environmental tourism in Wadi Rum.

Translated by : Diana Hilal